Articles By Jack Cush, MD
Higher Rates of Venous Thromboembolism in Gout
A Canadian administrative claims analysis has shown that gout-associated inflammation increases the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and pulmonary embolism (PE) before and after the diagnosis of gout.
Read Article
RheumNow Podcast – Believe in Vitamin D or Rituximab? (9.20.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
Read Article
Sensitivity of Temporal Artery Biopsy
Metanalysis shows that temporal artery biopsy (TAB) for the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis (GCA) has a sensitivity of 77%, similar to results seen with temporal artery imaging. These data suggest clinicians may be willing to accept a GCA diagnosis without proof by TAB.
Read Article
FDA Grants Breakthrough Status for Potential Lupus Nephritis Drug
Obinutuzumab (Gazyva) has been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in adults with lupus nephritis (LN). The drug made by Genentech, is going forward based on the Phase II NOBILITY study in adult patients with proliferative lupus nephritis (LN). Currently, there are no FDA-approved medicines for lupus nephritis.
Read Article
ACR Survey Shows Half of Patients Cannot Afford Treatments
Americans living with rheumatic disease face significant healthcare challenges, according to a national patient survey released this week by the American College of Rheumatology. More than 1,500 U.S. adults living with rheumatic disease responded to the survey, which asked a range of questions related to healthcare access, affordability and lifestyle. Key findings include that even though 90 percent of respondents reported having health insurance coverage, nearly 60 percent said they had difficulty affording their medications or treatments in the past year.
Read Article
Medical Use of Cannabis in 2019
JAMA has published an overview of cannabis and its medical uses. Although nearly 10% of cannabis users in the United States report using it for medicinal purposes, there is insufficient evidence to support the use of medical cannabis for most conditions for which its use is advocated or advised. Nevertheless, there is increase in favoring the public availability of cannabis, largely for the management of more than 50 medical conditions.
Read Article
RheumNow Podcast – The End of Arthritis (9.13.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
Read Article
Two vs. Four Weeks of Antibiotic Therapy in Septic Arthritis
A prospective trial has shown that 2 weeks of antibiotic therapy is as effective as 4 weeks of antibiotic therapy, with similar outcomes but shorter hospital stays.
Read Article
Bimekizumab Add-on Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Bimekizumab is a dual inhibitor of IL-17A and IL-17F that has been shown to be effective in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. A proof-of-concept study shows that giving bimekizumab to rheumatoid arthritis patients not adequately controlled by certolizumab pegol resulted in a rapid decrease in disease activity achieved after 12 weeks of treatment. These findings are novel as anti-IL-17 monoclonal antibody therapy has previously been shown to be ineffective in RA.
Read Article
74 Percent of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Dissatisfied with Treatment
CreakyJoints has completed a 258 patient survey showing that nearly three-fourths of people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have expressed dissatisfaction with their treatments, including conventional (csDMARDs) and biologic Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs (bDMARDs).
Read Article
